Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Prodigy Debater
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"Truly, thank you so much. I was in such a dire situation..."
The spicy stir-fried pork, cheonggukjang, and assorted vegetable side dishes laid out in an instant looked utterly mouthwatering.
"No, no. I just helped because the two of you seemed at an impasse. The food's delicious, too."
"Thank you... really..."
Lee Young-ae quietly wiped away her tears.
Kang Hyun could feel just how agonizing her past had been.
He spoke to her.
"And Auntie, feel free to drop the formalities. I'm from around here, too. Up there at the top."
When Kang Hyun pointed to the peak of the slum hill, Lee Young-ae murmured, "Oh dear, even so..." as she pondered deeply, then suddenly clapped her hands with a smack.
"Wait! You're that famous nationwide top scorer on the CSAT, Kang Hyun?"
As he nodded, her wrinkled, sagging eyes—marked by evident hardship—lit up, her expression shifting to one of wonder.
"Oh my, I didn't recognize you! Kang Hyun—a name I'd heard somewhere before!"
"No, really."
Kang Hyun felt a bit embarrassed that she recognized him and bowed his head in greeting once more.
"Lately, my mind's been so foggy I didn't even recognize a famous student. So glad to meet you! My son, too..."
Lee Young-ae suddenly set down her spoon mid-meal and stared blankly at her stew bowl.
"My son was great at studying, too... He's a Korea University student."
Kang Hyun tilted his head, watching her struggle to steady her breathing as she trailed off.
Her gaunt face was filled with a gloom that seemed ready to spill over into tears at any moment.
A long silence stretched between Kang Hyun and Lee Young-ae, broken first by Kang Hyun.
"By any chance... did something bad happen to your son?"
"Oh... no, he's healthy. It's not that. We haven't been in touch for a long time. As a mother, I've done nothing for him, so it's only natural."
Kang Hyun could sense what she meant.
"...So you haven't been in contact."
"Yes... When things got tough at home, I resented him a lot. Now he doesn't even come by..."
Living in this neighborhood made their family circumstances plain as day.
The Lee family was the epitome of a household flailing in poverty.
"I had to survive, so I took whatever work came my way and couldn't look after my son properly. And yet, from a young age, he figured everything out on his own and made it work. Never went to cram school, paid his own tuition with part-time jobs. Then I said something I shouldn't have..."
Kang Hyun listened quietly to her story.
"I told him not to go to college, to get a factory job instead. I crushed his dreams..."
Kang Hyun couldn't blame or reproach her for her words. He simply empathized with her plight.
Poverty was the real culprit.
They had all done their best, poured in their efforts, but trust and love had vanished, shattering the family.
"..."
Watching her expression, Kang Hyun found himself at a loss for words for a while.
He thought of how Lee Young-ae and her son's life could have been his own mother's—and his—if he had gone down the wrong path.
"It's no one's fault. You did your best, Auntie, and I'm sure your son did too."
Kang Hyun didn't live in a better home than her child, nor was he rich.
But right now, he was happy.
With his beloved mother, they were holding strong together—so he could comfort her.
And that comfort seemed to help her a great deal.
"...Thank you so much for saying that."
Tears welled in her eyes, but her face looked much more at ease.
"Now eat up. Cool down. I shouldn't have brought it up..."
"No, no. I'm grateful for your words, and the meal was great!"
As Kang Hyun patted his belly and stood, she pressed something wrapped in cloth into his hands—prepared who knows when.
"It's young radish kimchi. Eat it later. It's all I have to give..."
"No! This is too much... Thank you so much. I'll enjoy it."
Fearing she'd feel awkward if he refused, Kang Hyun took the pink cloth wrap and smiled brightly.
Then, something occurred to him, and he looked at her.
"Oh, by the way, what's your son's name?"
"Pardon?"
"If I run into him, I can pass along your regards."
She hesitated, debating whether to speak, then shyly opened her mouth.
"Woo Si-hyung. He's twenty this year... I only know he went to Korea University. I don't even know what he's doing now or how he's living."
"Pardon? Woo Si-hyung?"
Kang Hyun blurted it out without thinking.
It was a familiar name lingering somewhere in his mind.
From his memories, it was undoubtedly someone famous in academics during high school.
'Where did I hear it?'
Racking his brain, Kang Hyun asked her back.
"Your son's name rings a bell for me. Did he participate in any competitions or something?"
"I'm not sure, embarrassingly. He won awards in debate contests or something like that from way back..."
"Ah!"
Only then did Kang Hyun suddenly recall who Woo Si-hyung was.
At Korea University's Law Department, the hottest topic in class was the 'Criminal Procedure Practice' course.
Professor Cheon Woong-jae.
A large-built man with a sharp, intimidating presence. His class was infamous among freshmen for its brutally high difficulty.
He handled practical training while holding high prestige as a legal scholar and boasting a long tenure as a senior at a major law firm.
However, he never dipped into politics or joined the prosecution. Many said it was because he was known as a lone wolf who couldn't let injustice slide.
It was obvious he wouldn't last long at a big firm chasing lucrative cases, and eventually, he devoted himself solely to the university, nurturing the next generation.
He also had a famous anecdote: relentlessly tracking down students who leaked exam keys, turning their worlds upside down. The story was legendary even among freshmen.
"The class will proceed entirely as discussions."
It was the first thing Professor Cheon Woong-jae—burly with a tiger-like face—said upon entering the lecture hall.
A collective groan of "Ah!" rippled through the students in pained resignation, but Kang Hyun nodded leisurely.
'An chance to gauge my skills.'
Learning itself was enjoyable.
But getting to test his own abilities was even more thrilling.
Kang Hyun brimmed with confidence in any legal field, but in trial sequences, litigation procedures—procedural law, in other words—he was like an answering machine, making him utterly self-assured.
"Discussions start next week. Teams 1 and 2 will debate for 15 minutes, so prepare. Form teams now. Two to three per group. Report to the TA. That's it."
Students began buzzing and standing to form groups upon hearing Professor Cheon Woong-jae's instructions.
Korea's top university in Seoul.
Gathering the nation's geniuses, everyone was at peak skill level with stellar family backgrounds. In such a competitive environment, school grades were the only way to stand out.
Many were already desperate to impress the professor and score high.
Professor Cheon Woong-jae's class was no different.
At his call to form teams, students scrambled to pair with the top performers—especially around Park Hyun-woo, where a crowd gathered.
Park Hyun-woo.
Rumor had it his father was a congressman, from a lineage of successful entrepreneurs.
Owning several buildings was chump change for this notorious chaebol heir—a world apart from Kang Hyun's, with equally alien thoughts and mindset.
"Hey, you and you! Team up with me."
Park Hyun-woo ditched the lackeys from lunch earlier, swiftly teaming with well-known high achievers and moving off.
The amusing part? The discarded ones accepted it as a given, pairing with others at their level.
It already felt like a dog-eat-dog world.
Plenty flocked to Kang Hyun too. His fame and entrance ceremony impact drew them.
"Wanna team with me?"
"I'll buy coffee!"
Kang Hyun thanked each proposer but declined.
'I already have my partner in mind.'
Kang Hyun stood without hesitation and approached the bespectacled guy huddled silently in the corner.
"Woo Si-hyung, right?"
"...Huh?"
The short, scrawny guy—still boyish like a high schooler—looked utterly shocked, never expecting Kang Hyun to approach him first for a team-up.
Besides his perfectly round, tiny glasses, he seemed utterly ordinary, quietly shrinking out of sight in the corner even now.
Naturally, no one else glanced his way—but Kang Hyun had singled him out for the debate team.
"You're Woo Si-hyung, aren't you?"
"Uh, how do you know my name..."
"Bingo. Good thing."
Kang Hyun had known in advance that Professor Cheon Woong-jae's class centered on debates. He even knew teams of two or three would engage in fast-paced, direct debates blended with courtroom cross-examination styles.
'Teams of two or three in rapid-fire direct debates fused with adversarial cross-exams. For high-difficulty debates, pair with a debate expert.'
Courtroom-style debates hinge on captivating the audience—not just rebutting opponents—to sway victory.
For this hybrid format, Kang Hyun needed at least one exceptional partner, even with two brains.
Someone to back him up, catching logical fallacies or hasty generalizations.
And right in his sights: Woo Si-hyung.
It felt like karmic payback for yesterday's good deed—naturally drawn to him. Without helping them yesterday, he'd have overlooked the pale-faced Woo entirely.
"I, uh..."
As Woo Si-hyung stammered and fidgeted, Kang Hyun persuaded him earnestly.
"I'm Kang Hyun. Even if you have other plans, think it over. I'm pretty confident in debates myself."
Seeing the famed genius humbly begging to team with Woo Si-hyung drew all eyes to him.
"What's that about?"
"Who's that nerdy-looking guy..."
"Just showing off by picking a weirdo?"
Everyone was baffled, but Kang Hyun thought differently.
And one vivid memory crystallized in his mind.
The international debate 'VOA' tournament, hosted by six U.S. state universities and prestigious institutions.
In the high school division, he'd dominated undefeated in English, clinching the grand prize and shocking the world.
That was Woo Si-hyung.